"Avengers: Endgame": how the filmmakers turned the film into a fan service and said goodbye to the heroes

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We are discussing the perfect conclusion to the 11-year history of the famous franchise.

The most anticipated and at the same time the most secret project of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and indeed of the film industry in recent years, has been released. This film is a direct sequel to last year's Infinity War.

Then almost all the famous superheroes of the cinematic universe entered into confrontation with the sinister Thanos. The Mad Titan was obsessed with solving the problem of the overpopulation of the universe. He wanted to destroy half of living things, and for this he needed to collect all the stones of infinity - they were shown in previous films from Marvel.

In the finale of Infinity War, the heroes have almost won. But Thanos managed to snap his fingers, and exactly half of the population of the universe, including many heroes, turned to dust.

What were expected from the new film

When Infinity War came out, directors Anthony and Joe Russo, as well as the head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, stated that this film was just the beginning of the battle with Thanos. And indeed, it breaks off almost mid-sentence: only the old team is left of the Avengers, the earth is in ruin, and Thanos, seriously injured, goes to rest.

Even before the first trailers appeared, there were many theories about the plot of the sequel. Many of them were based on stories from comics, where the disappeared, as it turned out, did not die, but ended up in another dimension that exists in the stone of the soul. Therefore, the heroes had to take the glove from Thanos and bring them back to life.

After the release of the film "Ant-Man and the Wasp", which showed that time goes differently in the quantum dimension, there were assumptions about the movement of heroes into the past. This was also confirmed by some shots from the filming of the 2012 film "The Avengers".

Captain Marvel introduced the audience to the most powerful superheroine, and she was immediately dubbed the main weapon in the fight against Thanos. This was also confirmed by the trailers, where Carol says to colleagues: "You didn't have me before."

It was also possible to learn from the trailers that Scott Lang nevertheless got out of the quantum dimension and came to the Avengers, Clint Barton turned into a cruel Ronin, and the team will have new white suits.

As for the rest, it was simply impossible to understand something specific from the multitude of promo videos. And so the fans continued to build theories. Sometimes they are even completely insane. For example, that Ant-Man would destroy Thanos by climbing into his anus.

What was shown in the movie "Avengers: Endgame"

Caution, further text contains critical spoilers.

Traditionally, some theories turned out to be very far from reality. Others almost hit the mark. But even here the Russo brothers cheated a little, deceiving the expectations of the audience: some of the assumptions turned out to be simply not important for the plot.

So, the emotional message of Tony Stark from the spaceship, which was shown in the commercials, ended very simply - he was rescued by Captain Marvel along with Nebula.

And it soon became clear that almost all the promotional materials were composed of the first scenes, and it was not clear what to expect next. Moreover, even those theories that are close to reality "work out" in the first half of the film.

Yes, Captain Marvel helps kill Thanos. But this does not change what he did, and the stones have already been destroyed. Yes, the Avengers travel back in time to collect the Infinity Stones and prevent disaster. But even if you know all this in advance, the film is already full of surprises that delight and surprise.

"Avengers: Endgame" is primarily a movie for the multi-million army of fans of the MCU.

Therefore, it is built more like the completion of a long favorite TV series or TV show. The authors simply give all the main characters more time to unfold, and then remind viewers of past events.

And it is no coincidence that the old team of Avengers survived in the finale of Infinity War. In the previous film, a lot of time was devoted to newcomers: the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Black Panther and the warriors of Wakanda, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange. Of the "old men" only Iron Man and Thor appeared there.

And in "Final", saving the world again falls on the shoulders of Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and other heroes, who first gathered in a large-scale crossover in 2012. The cinematic universe began with them, and they also end its ten-year history.

Therefore, the first hour of the film is completely devoted to the changes in the characters. The authors finally show how each of them goes through defeat. After all, they always won before.

Before the release of the film "The First Avenger: Confrontation" in happy ends, no one doubted. And here you can watch Thor's weakness, Tony Stark's attempts to hide in the bosom of the family, or the cruelty of Hawkeye. At the beginning of the story, they are all just people. They have weaknesses and even Thor's benchmark abs can turn into a beer belly.

How the ending movie was turned into a fan attraction

Many viewers and critics have already dubbed the new film a three-hour fan service. And that's really hard to argue with. After a long introduction, a significant part of the picture turns into a set of references to the previous parts of the MCU, comics and pop culture.

Retrospective and cameo

The time-shifting storyline allowed the authors to close the ten-year story with a very beautiful move: the heroes return to bright moments from past films. And first of all, we are talking about the first crossover of the cinematic universe (and indeed the first such large-scale crossover) "The Avengers".

Viewers are given the opportunity to see the famous battle scenes from unexpected angles again, to briefly meet with Loki and find out what Stephen Strange and the Elder were doing at that moment.

The return to Guardians of the Galaxy reveals how ridiculous Peter Quill looked when he went to work at the beginning of the film. But the scene where Thor together with Rocket sets off during the action of the film "Thor: the kingdom of darkness" is rather touching: he meets with his long-dead mother. And there are many more similar emotional moments.

Steve Rogers watches his beloved Peggy Carter through the glass, Tony Stark hugs his father. The authors fill in the gaps in the history of the cinematic universe and allow the characters to say goodbye to their families, and the audience - to their favorite minor characters.

And if some of them, such as the Elder, directly affect the plot, others like Korg or Jarvis are added solely for the amusement of the public. They do not forget, of course, about Stan Lee. And this is his last cameo.

Well, the final scene of the global battle in terms of the number of heroes can only be compared with a similar moment from Ready Player One. The Avengers managed to turn back time and resurrect all the disappeared, but Thanos from the past again attacks them with his entire army. And this, of course, is a reason to show literally all the important and not so important Marvel heroes.

It is simply impossible to discern everyone from the first time, and therefore fans will definitely go to the cinema more than once, or they will wait for the digital release and disassemble the whole battle frame by frame. Only the most attentive will be able to see in the crowd, for example, Howard the Duck.

In addition to the central characters of the film, the emphasis is on individual characters who, apparently, will play a role in the further development of the MCU: a lot of time is devoted to Spider-Man, Valkyrie, who suddenly returned to Captain Marvel. The rest just flicker literally for a minute or two. But even to this, the authors, through the mouth of Wong, self-ironically simply say: "Much more."

These scenes are just for the pleasure of the audience: Iron Man fights back to back with his beloved, Rocket flies on the Warrior, Falcon fights his wings, Bucky next to Groot. It's just fan service, but on an unprecedented scale.

Parallels and reflections

However, references to previous films are not limited to flashbacks and old characters. The entire film is filled with sequels, copies, or mirror images of scenes from previous films or comics.

For starters, Bruce Banner, who has fought the Hulk in all previous stories, has now found a balance with him and can remain smart and strong at the same time. Then Hawkeye, after losing his family, becomes the vigilante Ronin, as it was in the comics.

And then you can repeatedly notice how the authors play up the scenes. Sometimes it is witty: for example, in the movie "The First Avenger: Another War" many people remember the excellent scene of the fight in the elevator. This time, Captain America finds himself in the same situation again, but now he says "Heil Hydra" and leaves without a fight. This is both a joke on the previous film and a reference to the 2016 comics, where Steve Rogers considered himself a Hydra agent for a while.

And when he starts to fight himself from the past, of course, the classic Captain says his favorite: "I can do this all day."

In other scenes, this turns into tragedy: Hawkeye and Black Widow's campaign for the soul stone copies a scene from Infinity War, where Thanos sacrificed his daughter for the sake of prey. But now old friends are not fighting for the opportunity to survive, but in order to sacrifice themselves. Clint survives, but he is not at all happy about it.

Sometimes these are references to almost forgotten moments. In Age of Ultron, Tony Stark has already seen Captain America with a broken shield. And Thanos actually almost breaks it with his doublesword. And in the same "Age of Ultron" the Captain managed to slightly move the hammer of Thor. And now, at a critical moment, the weapon itself flies to the avenger, helping to cope with Thanos.

After the return of Captain Marvel, the entire female superhero team gets together again - the same thing happened in Infinity War, only now there are even more of them.

And the tragic denouement looks like a reflection of the ending of Infinity War. Then Tony Stark, after the defeat, held the dying Peter Parker in his arms. Now Spider-Man, after winning, is trying to hold on to the wounded Iron Man.

Pop culture and cinema

But the references go beyond the MCU. In the movie "Avengers: Endgame" you can see jokes about other popular franchises. First of all, this, of course, concerns time travel. In this regard, the world of the film with all its mysticism and superheroes is very close to ours. When it comes to the time machine, everyone thinks of Back to the Future.

Then the heroes arrange a dispute about the realism of these plots, as if drawing into it from the viewer. And then they themselves are surprised that they are seriously discussing theories from the cinema. This is again self-irony and partly a denial of responsibility: after all, no one expects full believability from science fiction films.

There are also references to other films, TV series and many stories. Some are straightforward: Thor is called the Big Lebowski because of his appearance. Others are less visible and will clearly become the subject of fan compilation.

For example, the poster on the support group wall is very similar to the TV series Left Behind. One of the directors personally starred as a member of the same support group. And in small roles there are two actors from the series "Community" - a project by the Russo brothers.

Who left for good and who returned

But still, "Avengers: Endgame" is primarily a farewell to the MCU in the form that fans are used to seeing it. It is already known that the project will not be closed: new films, sequels and series are planned. But everyone knew in advance that some of the important heroes would leave the franchise. It only remained to understand: who exactly and, more importantly, how.

The first death was completely unexpected. It is not the first month that there has been talk of a solo film about the Black Widow. But, apparently, it will be a prequel, since Natasha Romanoff gave her life for a soul stone. Moreover, this event does not even cancel the return of the rest of the characters.

At the same time, with Gamora, who will probably appear in the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy, the authors got out of it - they took a heroine from the past. Now James Gunn will be able to retell the love story of Peter Quill and the mercenary.

Many people guessed about the death of Tony Stark. A lot of everything in the MCU was tied to this character: it all started with him, he was behind all the important discoveries and helped to win almost every global battle. Therefore, if further history should change, then without it. But all the same, everyone's breath is taken.

Before snapping his fingers, he utters the final line of the very first movie in the MCU: "I am Iron Man." The farewell scene to Tony Stark is a farewell to the past. All the important faces flash, even the boy from the third "Iron Man" stands aside. The daughter asks his assistant, Happy, a cheeseburger - the first food that Tony himself wanted to try upon returning from captivity.

But this goodbye is not the last. Another MCU protagonist leaves. But in exactly the opposite way: Steve Rogers travels back in time, where his story began. And he decides to stay there, exchanging the exploits of the superhero for life with Peggy Carter - they still danced their dance. The authors showed two completely different fates of the two main characters of the MCU.

And it is precisely so ambiguously that they close the first chapter of the MCU and give hope for a new one. New heroes will come to replace Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. And about the old, as Thanos said in "War of Infinity", only memory will remain. In this case, it is the memory of Marvel fans who have been waiting for the "Final" for 11 years and 22 films.